Table 1 Categories of life-limiting in children [14]

Category 1: Conditions for which curative treatment has failed e.g. cancer.

Category 2: Conditions associated with periods of normal childhood activities, which usually require long periods of intensive treatment, but which are often associated with premature death e.g. cystic fibrosis, muscular dystrophy.

Category 3: Progressive conditions without curative option where treatment may ameliorate the condition, which may extend over a number of years e.g. Battens disease.

Category 4: Conditions with severe neurological disability that may deteriorate unpredictably but are not usually considered progressive e.g. multiple disabilities such as following severe brain or spinal injury, severe cerebral palsy.